As Beautiful As You
by Krystal Lily Potter
Summary: It was supposed to be the perfect night. Too bad fate never worked out the way Kairi wanted it to. Sora was just going to have to fix this, especially since he considered it his fault. The question he wondered was how? A Two-Shot, Christmas based fic.
1. Part 1

**As Beautiful As You  
Part One**

_**From the moment I saw you…  
From the moment I looked into your eyes  
There was something about you I knew…I knew…  
That you were once in a lifetime  
A treasure near impossible to find…  
And I know how lucky I am to have you**_

It was supposed to be the perfect night. Kairi had everything all planned out. He would come to her house, both would be all dressed up, and then they would go to the Christmas Formal together. Yes, it was a date, but they were only friends. Her plans involved them leaving the dance as more than friends. It was perfect, and it was romantic.

Kairi was getting frustrated with him for not making a move ever since he got home. She knew damn well that he liked her. She couldn't understand why he couldn't seem to find it in him to ask her out as more than a friend. Then again, it was Sora. Maybe he didn't realize how she was kind of (absolutely positively insanely crazily) head over heels in love with him.

But no, all of her perfect plans were ruined. She didn't blame Sora though. She couldn't. None of this was his fault.

Kairi brushed her tears out of her eyes as she leaned against her closet. She had put so much thought into everything, and now she was sure that fate just didn't want her to be with him…

**VVVVVVV**

The blaring sun beat down on the students of Destiny Island High. Most of them were hurrying along, trying to get into the school before they suffered from heat stroke or combusted into flames.

Kairi was not one of these people. She slowly walked towards the school, distracted and lost in her thoughts. She was humming a bit, something she usually did when she was thinking.

Kairi loved to help with things at the school, and even though she wasn't the smartest person, or necessarily the best behaved in class (she had a bad habit of talking to her friends). However, she was deemed a good enough student to become the head of the Social Committee, even though she was only in eleventh grade. Then again, no one else wanted the job of organizing dances.

So naturally, she was the first to know the exact date that the annual Christmas Formal would be on. The formal was always a bigger deal than any of the other dances, so it was always crucial to recruit more people to help plan this. Or for just manual labor.

And that was what she was thinking about at the moment. The manual labor. She was trying to think of a way to guilt her friends into helping, even though both would scoff at the thought of a dance. Kairi knew damn well that the only reason they even attended any of the other ones was because she was in charge of them. It would take more than that to get them to actually help though.

Target one was the easiest. Sora. Kairi knew that she could just give him watery eyes and a pout and he'd eventually cave in. It took a little time, but it always worked. Riku was more difficult though. He was immune to her puppy-dog stares, and she couldn't very well flirt with him like she did Sora. She didn't want to make herself out to be some kind of tramp or anything. That's why it was crucial to get Sora first, because he would help her get Riku to help. Then she would demand that Wakka and Tidus help on the pain of her taking all their blitzballs.

'_Finally, air conditioning,'_ a voice whispered as Kairi entered the school.

'_**Come on Nami,'**_ Kairi thought back. _**'It's not that bad. Now, you'll help me persuade Sora by bugging Roxas, right?'**_

'_You know it,'_ her Nobody, Naminé, answered happily. _'Speak of the devil. Target acquired at 9 o'clock.'_

Kairi turned to her left and grinned. Sure enough, there was Sora, sitting on the ground close to where their classroom was. Yes, he was always early to school these days thanks to his parents, but he usually ended up falling asleep in the hallway or outside, so he would have been late anyway if it wasn't for her.

Kairi walked towards him and say down beside him. She waited for a moment before leaning in close and flicking his noise.

Sora's eyes snapped open, revealing the cerulean color that she loved the most. He stared at her blankly for a moment before Roxas gave him a kick-start (literally) and he said, "Give me a break Iri."

Kairi smiled at the nickname. He was the only one who ever called her Iri. She told no one else of the nickname because it was his. Only he was allowed to call her that. End of story.

"Class starts in fifteen minutes Sora," she said in a singsong voice.

He groaned and Roxas muttered, _'More sleep.'_

"Well put Roxas," Sora muttered as he leaned over and closed his eyes again.

Kairi blushed deeply as Sora's forehead pressed close to the side of her neck. She sighed a bit, wondering how she was going to ask him when he was in this state of being.

'_That's it!'_ Naminé cried out.

'_**What's it?'**_

'_Ask him now while he's half a sleep!'_

'_**Naminé! I'm shocked! That is so deceitful!' **_There was a pause. _**'I like it!'**_

"Sora?" she whispered into his ear, ignoring Naminé's giggles. "Sora?"

"Hmmm?" he mumbled.

"Can I ask you for a favor?" she asked.

Sora's eyes slowly opened as he straightened up and stared at her. He might be tired, but he was awake enough to know that her tone of voice was different from normal. However, he was not awake enough to realize that she was using a very flirty tone of voice. Something she only ever did with him.

"What?" he asked slowly.

"Will you help me decorate for the Christmas Formal?" she asked him quickly. "Please? You don't have to plan, you just have to help put the decorations up."

"You're kidding, right?" Sora asked.

"Please Sora? It would mean a lot to me," Kairi said, leaning in closer to him.

Sora stared at her before he rubbed his forehead, not saying a word.

'_You better hope she doesn't bring the weapon out,'_ Roxas said suddenly to Sora. _'Otherwise we're both stuck staying after school for these 'Formal' meetings.'_

Roxas seemed to speak a little too loudly though, and Naminé heard him loud and clear. She repeated the message to Kairi, who decided to pull out the big guns early.

She pouted and her eyes because a little watery as she said, "Please Sora?"

'…_Damn them,'_ Roxas muttered. He and Sora both knew very well than neither could turn down the pout and watery eyes from Kairi (or Naminé, in Roxas' case).

"Fine!" Sora answered quickly. "I'll help!"

Kairi grinned broadly and said, "Thank you!" She hugged him tightly. "Now will you help me get Riku to help?"

"He'll help," Sora answered firmly. He grinned slightly as Kairi arched an eyebrow at him. "You see, I told his mother that he was at my house on Saturday night…"

"And he wasn't," Kairi finished his sentence. She laughed and said, "Would you be so low as to blackmail your best friend Sora?"

"He'd do it to me if he had the chance Iri,' Sora replied dryly. "Actually, if you really wanted something, you would too."

"No I wouldn't," Kairi said as she stood up. Sora yawned again and stood up beside her. "Want to know why?"

"Why?"

"Because I have you wrapped around my pinky," Kairi said with a giggle as she walked passed him and into the classroom. "And we both know it."

Sora stared at her retreating figure and Roxas said, _'She does have a point.'_

'_**Shut up!'**_

'_Well she does!'_

'_**I know! That's why it's frustrating!'**_ Sora sighed and walked into the classroom. This was going to be a long month. But hey, he got to spend more time with Kairi than he would if he wasn't helping, so that was always a bonus.

'_Maybe you can even work up the courage to ask her to go with you,'_ Roxas suggested.

Sora was about to yell at him mentally when he stopped. He eyed Kairi for a moment before taking his seat beside her, leaning his forehead on the cool desk, and saying, _**'You know Rox, that's not a bad idea at all.'**_

**VVVVVVV**

"You know," Riku said as he watched a rather embarrassed looking teenage boy walk off. "You should really get a move on and ask Kairi to go with you before she actually accepts one of these idiots." Ever since the Christmas Formal had been announced, it seemed as if everyone in the high school lost a vital screw to their brains. It was all people talked about, and boys that wouldn't dare approach Kairi were suddenly talking to her, while girls that just watched Sora and Riku from afar were always jumping them at the most random times.

Riku had less of a problem. He was going to the formal with a pretty blonde girl who was in grade 12 with him. He did have a problem, however, with Sora not asking Kairi yet. And in turn, Sora had a problem with Riku, because his constant nagging was giving him a terrible headache, something that had become common over the past few weeks.

"I'm working on it," Sora snapped back as he tugged at his school tie. Really, it was even too hot IN the school these days. He blamed global warming and people who had cars that didn't need them. Like him.

"While you stick iridescent snowflakes to a glittery blue background?"

"Last time I checked you had purple paint on your face and glitter glue in your hair!" Sora growled. "And yes, I am working on a strategy."

"I'm pretty sure, considering Roxas is technically you, that talking to him doesn't help much."

'_Tell him I hope he gets syphilis from that blonde girl.'_

"He hopes you get syphilis from your date," Sora informed Riku with a bored tone of voice.

"Tell him I hope he gets AIDS."

Sora glared and said, "Thanks Riku."

Riku blinked and said, "You know what I mean! It's weird thinking that the guy who always insults me is you, but he's not you." Suddenly a dark look appeared on his face. "Trouble at twelve Sor."

Sora turned around and saw a tall guy walking towards Kairi. Sora knew him, everyone did. He considered himself to be the best looking, richest, most perfect guy in the entire school. Sora thought he was a grease-bag from the beginning, but ever since the slime ball had taken an interest in Kairi over the past few weeks, Sora wanted to introduce him to the Ultima Weapon.

The guy strutted (honest to god strutted!) over to Kairi and said, "Hey babe."

She rolled her eyes and ignored him, going back to cutting out more snowflakes.

"Aww don't be like that baby. You know you want to go to the dance with me. Maybe hang out at my place afterwards?"

"You know you want to go away," Kairi snapped.

"I'm not taking no for an answer."

"How about goodbye? Not happening? Get lost? Not comprehending? How about nain? Non? Nee? Oh I know! Screw off!" Kairi snarled at him.

The guy seemed stunned for a moment before saying, "Was that last one an offer from you?"

Sora stayed on the sidelines for so long, knowing very well that she could handle herself in most situations. That, however, was unacceptable. He shot up and before Kairi knew what was happening, he was between her and the grease-bag. "Get lost asshole. She said no, and she means it."

"Who do you think you are?" the other guy snapped back.

"I—I'm—"

"My date for formal!" Kairi blurted out, causing both of them to stare at her. "Right Sora?"

"Yeah, that's right," Sora answered quickly, facing the guy again. "So back off."

"I don't believe you," the guy sneered.

"You better believe it," Sora said. "Because you'll see it on formal night."

"Looking forward to it, since it won't happen. I'll see you there babe, and don't worry, my parents won't be home later." The guy winked at Kairi, and that was it for Sora. He growled angrily and lunged at the guy, but was held back by Riku.

"Later loser," the grease-ball said as he sauntered (honest to god sauntered!) off.

"Do you WANT to get suspense for fighting?" Kairi's voice broke through Sora's thoughts. Riku let go of him and he faced her. Everyone else that was helping with the formal turned their eyes away from the scene and went back to working, but all were still listening.

Riku sniggered a bit and said, "Nice plan of action Sor. Did Rox come up with it?" With that he wandered off. A pretty brunette was having a hard time reaching the tall shelf, so naturally he needed to help her.

"Plan of action?"

"Umm…well you see…" Sora trailed off.

'_Memo to me…memo to me: Maim Riku later,'_

'_Why's that Roxas?'_ Naminé asked. He didn't realize he had said that so that not only could Sora hear, but Naminé and Kairi did as well.

There was a pause before Roxas said, _'Memo to Sora…memo to Sora: Maim Riku AND me later.'_

Kairi looked at Sora curiously and asked, "Well?"

"I have to maim Roxas and Riku later?"

"No, what plan of action?"

Sora blushed and said, "Well you see, I was kind of trying to figure out a way to ask you if you wanted to go to the formal with me anyway, but I knew that so many people asked you, and I know there are a lot of other, better people, and I know you were going to say no but I—"

Kairi laughed as she covered his mouth with her hand. She giggled and said, "Sora, you silly bum. Of course I would have said yes. You're my best friend." Neither of them realized how much those words hurt the other. "Besides, I kind of…wanted to go with you anyway. I know you won't take advantage of me."

Sora smiled warmly at her and said, "So, no regrets about lying to the grease-bag?"

Kairi laughed again and said, "No regrets. But Sora?"

"Hmm?"

"You DO know that you're going to have to come shopping with me this weekend, right?"

"What? Why?"

Kairi sighed and said, "Silly boy. So I can help you choose a suit, since I know your old one is too small. That, and you need to get a tie that matches my dress, which I have to buy this week. Then we have to decide how we're getting there and if we're hanging out with any of the others afterwards and—"

Sora stared blankly at Kairi as she stopped abruptly and said, "Well, just be home when I call you Saturday, okay?"

"That, I can do," he answered.

Kairi smiled widely and said, "Great. Now get back to the gluing."

"But Kairi," he whined. "I have to lay on that huge thing to put the snowflakes on, and then I get glitter all over me. The glue and the paint and the heat is killing my head!" She stared at him for a moment and he sighed. "Fine."

"You have him so whipped," one of Kairi's friends said with amusement as Sora went to struggle with the mass amounts of glitter, fabric, stars and snowflakes with the other guys that were roped into helping.

"I know," she answered. "I'll be back in a second." Quickly she darted down the hall. It only took her a minute to find the person she was looking for.

"Hey!" she called out. The tall guy with the dark hair stopped strutting (honest to god strutting!) down the hall and turned towards her.

"How'd I do?"

"Worked like a charm, just watch out for him, he might want to punch you," Kairi answered.

"Why didn't you just ask him yourself instead of setting up this scheme?"

"One, Selphie set this up, not me. Two, you are such a guy for asking that question," she answered as she took a twenty out of her pocket. "Here you go."

"If you need my acting services again, you know where to find me," he said as he left.

Kairi grinned and turned back towards where the committee was working. So what if it was a little wrong to pay someone to pretend to hit on her? She had known that Sora would react the way he did. She didn't feel quite as bad though, knowing that he wanted to ask her already. Still, she didn't regret paying the guy to act like he was interested in her. It made life more interesting.

'_Amen to that,'_ Naminé agreed. After all, it had been her idea.

**VVVVVVV**

Kairi walked through the mall alone. She could have brought Selphie or one of the other girls with her, but she just didn't feel like it. She had all the advice she could need in her head. Besides, she already knew some specifics about her dress that she wanted.

Naminé appeared beside her in her transparent form. Kairi and Sora were both good at talking to their Nobodies without being noticed, so this didn't bother her at all.

"So," Naminé said. "What color are we looking for first off?"

"My favorite color, of course."

"Ahh yes, cerulean blue," the blonde said while nodding her head. "Do you have an example of the color to show the shop owners?"

"I took a color swatch from a picture of Sora," Kairi said, not embarrassed in the least with the fact that she was choosing her dress color based on the color she had taken from a picture of Sora's eyes. Some might call it an obsession; she just called it knowing what she liked.

"And dress style?"

"Not sure, maybe strapless," Kairi answered.

"Fake diamonds," Naminé said suddenly. "They'll shimmer with all the decorations you made."

"Ohhh, good idea."

"And of course, they look great on shoes."

"Naturally."

The Somebody and Nobody pair walked into one of the boutiques, looking through the racks of dresses. Naminé had an extreme advantage, because she could slip into places without anyone seeing her. Kairi knew she would have a hard time finding the color she desired so desperately, but he was stubborn. If worst came to worst, she'd pay someone to make it.

"I like this idea," Naminé said as she touched the flowing material of an olive green dress.

"I hate that color," Kairi said. "But I agree, I like the way the skirt of the dress is so

flow-ey. The top's not that great though." It was just a plain tank top styled one.

"We can work with this though," Naminé said. "We can find dresses with this type of skirt."

"I guess. With a strapless top that has fake crystals or glitter on it."

"Hmmm, I wonder how long that dress with stay where it's supposed to?" Naminé teased. "Thinking of hanging back in Sora's backseat for a while?"

Kairi's face turned bright red and her eyes widened, making her look like a deer caught in headlights.

"That look doesn't work on me," Naminé said dryly. "I am you after all. These thoughts are just your own. You're as bad as a boy sometimes for all the fantasies that roam through your mind."

"Not listening!" Kairi said a little louder than she meant to, earning her a few odd glances. "Anyways, next store?"

"Next store," Naminé agreed and the two set off again.

It was two hours and three stores later that Kairi and Naminé started getting frustrated. They split up to look through stores, tackled them together, and got help from clerks. Still, Kairi couldn't find what she wanted. Sure, she could organize, plan and decorate an entire dance, but that was easy because she could do anything she wanted. And she wanted to get something similar to the dress she had in mind, even if it meant that she skipped school the next day to come looking!

"KAIRI!" she heard Naminé suddenly yell. She jerked up quickly and spun around, looking wildly for her Nobody. Some people gave her odd looks, but no one asked.

Finally Kairi found Naminé waving frantically. She made her way over but stopped half ways there. Her eyes widened as she stared at what Naminé had found. It was beautiful! It was perfect.

She rushed over and stared at the dress. This wasn't just similar to the one she had in mind. No, this was dead on. It was exactly how she imagined it. Unfortunately, it was more violet than blue. She frowned at this, and jumped as someone tapped her shoulder.

"Hello Miss," a sales lady said. She was a short, older lady with laugh lines and kind eyes. "I see you looking at this dress. All of this brand of dresses is on sale today."

Kairi sighed and said, "The design of this dress is perfect but…"

"Hmmm?"

Kairi took a piece of paper from her pouch and unfolded it. "I was hoping to find something in a color similar to this."

The lady stared at the piece of paper for a moment before eyeing Kairi and saying, "Wait right here honey."

"What do you think she's doing?" Naminé asked after a moment.

"Not a clue, but she's nice, so we'll wait," Kairi answered.

"Here we go," the nice lady said as she appeared again. "I knew I had seen this somewhere. There was a rip in it that I fixed, but the owner of the boutique didn't want me putting it back up."

Kairi felt her mouth drop. She looked at her color swatch to the dress. It wasn't just close, it was a perfect match!

"Where was the rip?" Kairi asked curiously while eyeing it. It seemed flawless to her.

"Oh, right here," the woman turned it and pointed to the top of the back of the dress. If she looked hard enough, Kairi could see where it was stitched, but it was an amazing job.

"This dress is still perfect," Kairi said after a moment of admiring it. "But…" She looked at the tag. The size seemed right, but she couldn't be sure.

"How about you try it on?" the lady suggested. Kairi nodded and headed to one of the changing rooms.

Quickly she stripped from her clothes she was wearing and slipped into the dress. She admired it in the mirrors, loving the way it looked. Rip and re-stitched or not, she was getting this.

'_Can I try?'_ Naminé asked. Kairi grinned a bit and nodded. There was a quick flash of light, too quick for most people to notice and instead of Kairi, Naminé stood in the dress, staring at it in the mirror.

"I like this," Naminé said, thrilled that it looked just as nice on her as it did her Other.

"How does it fit dear?" the kind lady asked. With another flash, they switched back and Kairi opened the door. The lady's face lit up and she said, "It looks gorgeous miss."

"I know," Kairi said as she looked in the mirror. She wasn't one of those self-centered girls, but she knew when something looked good on her or not. "I'll take it."

'_You're definitely going to have to fight to keep this dress on,'_ Naminé joked.

Kairi ignored her Nobody, happily humming along with the song that was playing in the store. She liked it. She would have to put it on her playlist for the formal.

Kairi went home a very happy young lady. Why wouldn't she? She found her dream dress, and the perfect slow song. Her day couldn't get better.

'_**Cause I've seen the miracle of snow on Christmas day  
The magic of loves first kiss, that takes your breath away  
And underneath the mistletoe, I know dreams come true…  
''Cause I've never seen anything, as beautiful as you**_

"I hate life."

Sora's laughter rang through the telephone, mocking Riku. The silver-haired young man glared at the phone intensely before snapping, "Shut up!"

"Sorry," Sora said as he calmed down. "But it's funny! You have to go wearing mostly pink? Why couldn't you just get like a pink tie or something? That wouldn't be absolutely terrible."

"I don't know!" Riku yelled out. "I suggested it to Kinomi, but she just shrugged and said that I needed the pink dress coat. No ifs, ands, or buts."

Sora snickered again and said, "Isn't your date's name Shiki?"

There was a pause before Riku said, "Shut up. I bet Kairi's wearing something pink, meaning you'll get something to match!"

"Pretty sure she's not going to make me get pink pants or anything," Sora replied.

"Whatever. So, what are you guys doing afterwards?" Riku asked curiously. His suggestive tone was not lost on Sora, but he chose to ignore it.

"Not a clue. Have to ask her." His phone beeped in his ear, scaring him slightly at first. "Oh, that's probably her. Talk to you later Rik."

"Whatever man."

Sora switched lines and said, "He-ee-ee-ll-ll-oo-oo."

"You're home! That's good," Kairi's voice rang out happily.

"I promised you I would be," he answered. "So when do you want to go to the mall?"

"Now," she said quickly. "Or as soon as you get here, since I assume you're going to be the nice gentleman and come and pick up the girl without a car since it's boiling outside."

Sora laughed and said, "I'll be there in a minute, kay Iri?"

"Okay," she said happily and hung up the phone.

Sora sighed as he hung up his and Roxas said, _'You've got it bad bro.'_

'_**So do you.'**_

'_Don't I know it.' _

It only took Sora about 15 minutes to walk to Kairi's house, so the drive there was pretty quick. He didn't even need to get out of his car though, because the second he put it in park she had already jumped into the passenger's seat.

"I have a few things I have to buy for myself too," Kairi said automatically. "But it's okay, it's nothing that will give away what my dress looks like. First thing first will be your suit though."

"I don't get to see your dress?" Sora asked with a pout as he started driving towards the mall.

"Of course not," Kairi answered as if she was talking to a two year old. "It's a surprise."

"But you get to see me in my suit?"

"I have to make sure it's right."

Sora rolled his eyes a bit and said, "Am I allowed to make suggestions?"

There was a pause before Kairi said, "I guess." It was rather hesitant, but Sora didn't care.

"No pink jackets."

Kairi blinked once, twice, three times, before saying, "Why would I make you get a pink jacket?"

"Riku's date made him."

Kairi laughed and said, "Don't worry Sora. We're going to stick with a black jacket. Besides, my dress is blue."

Relief washed over him at that as they pulled into the mall. He could hear Roxas saying some kind of 'thank you prayer' to…King Mickey, Santa, Hades, Kingdom Hearts and Axel (he wasn't going to ask), but he couldn't focus on that because soon Kairi was dragging him into the mall.

"I know the exact store we're going to," Kairi chatted happily. "The same place where I got my dress, since they sell men's clothes there. The nice lady that helped me should be here, so I'll see if she can help again. Do you have dress shoes?"

"Not ones that fit me," he answered.

"Ok, then that's the next thing," Kairi nodded. She dragged him into the store, glancing around for only a second, before dragging him off again.

"Hello Ms. Ella!"

The woman turned around and said, "Why, hello Kairi. What brings you here?"

"I was hoping you could help us find something that would match my dress for him," Kairi explained as she pulled Sora closer, causing him to blush darkly.

The old lady laughed and said, "You two are adorable together. So, are there any specifics?"

Kairi glanced up at Sora, who sighed and said, "Go ahead."

Kairi grinned broadly and said, "Well first of all I think I want a black dress shirt instead of white." She started walking around Sora in circles. Call her evil, but she already knew what she wanted him to wear, she was just taking the opportunity to look him over. She was sure that he'd do the same if the roles were reversed, so it didn't bother her any. "But you know, it's supposed to be really hot that day, so I don't think that you need an outer jacket."

Sora sighed and eventually stopped paying attention. He just stood there, nodding to anything Kairi or the lady suggested. Eventually, a pile of clothes was thrown in his arms and Kairi pointed him towards a changing room.

Sora looked in the mirror as he changed clothes, noticing that he was in all black with only a blue tie. He glanced at it oddly, recognizing the color from somewhere, but it wasn't occurring to him.

"Sora, come out and show us," Kairi told him. Her voice was sweet, but he could hear the demand in it.

"I don't have the tie on."

"Get out here."

Sora laughed and came out of the changing room. Kairi reached up to the messed up tie, and starting fixing it. She was used to this, because every morning, after getting into the classroom, Kairi would fix his school tie for him. What she didn't know, and would never know, is that Sora did actually have the ability to tie a tie. He just pretended not to.

The old lady watched the two with a wide grin. To her, they were just too adorable.

"Stand back," Kairi said and Sora did as he was told. She walked around him in circles, this time honestly seeing if the suit worked well.

"Do I pass?" Sora asked with an amused tone.

"Definitely," Kairi said happily with a subtly flutter of her eye lashes, causing him to blush. "And on the first try too! It's amazing how this just fits you perfectly, just like my dress fit me perfectly and it was the only one here of that specific color."

"Yeah, funny," Sora agreed.

After Sora changed, Kairi was standing at the counter, waiting for him to finish putting on his sneakers.

"Need a hand dear?" the old lady asked.

"No thank you," Sora asked as he finally pulled his sneaker on. He glanced at the woman and said, "But thanks anyways. How's Cinderella doing?"

The old lady smiled and said, "Nothing gets passed you, does it dear? She wished that her friends that helped her would have a good Christmas. I did what I could to help."

Sora smiled and said, "You deserve a break Fairy Godmother. Tell Cinderella and Charming that I said hi." He looked over at Kairi, rubbing his head as he did so. All her talking about colors, and pants had given him a headache.

"Absolutely," Cinderella's Fairy Godmother said. "Are you alright dear?"

"Just a little headache from stress, nothing big," Sora replied with a smile. He waved at her then quickly walked up beside Kairi, who gave him a questioning look.

"What took so long?"

"Sorry, had trouble with my sneakers."

"Well, it's 200 munny."

Sora stared at her and said, "You're kidding, right? That costs as much as some of Donald's staffs or Goofy's shields!"

"Sora," Kairi whined.

He continued staring at her before growling and giving the money to the cashier. It was nice to see was destroying Heartless got him.

"Now we just have to buy your shoes. Oh, and I need to get a new necklace since none of mine seem to suit my dress very well. And earrings. We don't need to worry about getting there though, because you have a pretty decent car. Afterwards a bunch of people are heading out to  
eat—"

Sora tuned the rest of it out.

**VVVVVVV**

It was Friday morning, and the Christmas Formal was that night. Already, the school was decorated up for the upcoming holiday, but everyone involved with the dance would get out of class early to help put all the big decorations up.

Kairi was bouncing in her seat, talking to all of her friends excitedly. Sora, however, was not.

Their science teacher decided to give up and not teach them anything that day. Besides, it was the day before Christmas holidays; he knew none of them were going to listen. So he sat back in his chair, observing his class curiously. Or rather, one student.

Normally Sora would jump at the chance to talk to as many people as possible even if he WAS teaching. Now he just sat in his chair, staring rather blankly down at his desk.

"Sora," Kairi said suddenly, causing him to look up. Her big smile vanished as she asking. "Are you alright?" He looked really tired, and a little pale.

Sora smiled at her and said, "I'm fine."

The teacher, Mr. Lon, was one of the favorite teachers in the school because of how easy going he was. That was how he got to see the personalities of so many of his students. Now he knew something was wrong. Sora wasn't speaking loudly, nor was he blushing deeply or anything.

Mr. Lon narrowed his eyes before saying, "Sora, come here for a second."

Sora was startled to hear his name, but he got up. It was barely visible, but he swayed a bit when he got up. He walked a little slower than normal to the front of the room, but when he got to the teacher's desk, he was even paler.

"Do you need to go to the nurses office?"

"Why would I need to go to the nurses office? I'm fine." Sora turned to go back to his seat, but he didn't get very far before gravity acted and yanked the weak boy to the ground.

"Sora!" Kairi cried out with worry as she rushed over to him. He was sitting on the floor, holding his head in his hand. "Sora, look at me. Are you alright?"

He slowly looked up at her before saying, "Maybe I should go to the nurses office."

**VVVVVVV**

Kairi tapped her fingers against her desk nervously. Her eyes darted from their lecturing teacher, to the clock, back to the teacher, to the door, to the clock, and back to the teacher. She just wanted this student teacher (Miss. Prince) to stop trying to teach them so that she could go and see how Sora was doing. She had been kicked out of the nurses office, and told to go to class and to come back at lunch.

Finally, the bell rang, and Kairi bolted. She rushed down the hall and burst into the nurses office, receiving a glare from the evil woman herself. Kairi ignored her and quickly walked over to where Sora was still lying.

He turned and looked at her before saying, "Key Iri."

"Hey, you feeling better?" Kairi asked, running her fingers through his hair.

He winced a bit and said, "Still hurts a bit, but don't worry, I'll be fine for tonight." To prove his point he tried to jump out of bed, but ended up failing miserably as he fell backwards. He held his stomach for a moment as a wave of nausea passed over him, but he didn't throw up.

Kairi quickly helped him up into the bed again and sat next to him. He was visibly frustrated and said, "I'm already ruining your day."

"Don't be silly, you just have a headache. You'll be fine later. Maybe you should go home though," she said as she leaned down and kissed his forehead.

"No, I—"

"I've tried calling your parents already Mr. Hikari," the monotone nurse said. "We have been unable to reach your mother, and your father won't be able to get here for another hour."

"That's alright, he can wait," Kairi said scooting a little closer to Sora on the bed. She made him lay his head on her shoulder, blushing deeply as she felt his breath on her neck.

The nurse predicted that Sora was going to argue and said, "Your girlfriend is right, it's best you go home for a while."

Sora blushed a bit, but neither of them protested what she said. This delighted Kairi to no end.

She continued to sit with Sora, waiting for his mother or father to come get him. Neither of them spoke in the nurse's office, nor when Kairi helped Mr. Hikari bring his son to the car.

Sora stared at her before his eyes widened. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys before saying, "Here Iri, take my car home, okay?"

She nodded and said, "I'll see you later?'

"Yeah," he said happily before shutting the door. Kairi watched as Sora drove off before sighing and turning to walk back into the school. Now her headache with finishing the last minute preparations would begin.

**VVVVVVV**

Kairi sat against her closet, sobbing into her hands. Her dress lay on her bed forgotten, along with her shoes and accessories. The time read 9:00 p.m. The Christmas Formal had started an hour ago. The dance that she had gone out of her way to make absolutely perfect was the last place she wanted to be. All because of a phone call from Riku earlier.

His mother was a nurse in the hospital, and called him when she had found out that Sora was admitted to the hospital when his headache started to get worse, he started vomiting, and his temperature skyrocketed. That was all he knew, so that was all she knew.

Kairi had felt terrible, because before that she had been growling about Sora not answering the phone and ruining her night. Now she just felt like bitch.

There was a knock on her door before her mother walked in. She sat down beside her daughter and hugged her tightly. "Kairi hun, I know you're upset that Sora didn't show, but you should just go to the dance with one of those other boys and—"

"No mom, that's not it at all," Kairi sobbed. "First, I wouldn't WANT to go with another guy, only Sora. Second, I know why Sora didn't show. He had to go to the hospital. I am such a terrible person for being angry with him!"

"Oh Kairi," her mother said while rubbing her back. "Hmmm…I know. Why don't you go visit him at the hospital early tomorrow morning and bring those Christmas Cookies you always make that he loves."

Kairi looked up at her mother for a moment before slowly nodding and saying, "Y-yeah. That's what I'll do. Bake cookies!" She leapt off of the floor and rushed out of the room, going over a list of ingredients in her head. All thoughts of her perfect dance, perfect dress and his perfect suit left her. There were some things more important, and she wouldn't let this incident ruin their Christmas break.

**VVVVVVV**

**END PART ONE**

This was originally going to be ONE long fic but…yeah…I'm already up to almost 20 pages on Microsoft word. And the next one is about the same length as well.

Yes, this is a Christmas one, even though I don't usually do holiday fics. This chapter didn't seem very Christmasy, but the next one will…sort of. I just didn't want to be OVERLY too clichéd, but yeah, I failed miserably…

And don't worry about Sora. It's kind funny what I made happen to him. And I actually looked it up, so while it might seem stupid, it could actually happen.

So, I'll update the second part sometime before Christmas. Promise.

**_Krystal Lily Potter_**


	2. Part 2

**As Beautiful As You  
Part 2**

_**Holding you in my arms  
No one else has fit so perfectly  
I could dance forever with you, with you  
And at the stroke of midnight  
Please forgive me if I can't let go  
'**__**Cause I never dreamed I find, a Cinderella of my own**_

It was early in the morning, and the sun was already starting to rise, lighting up Destiny Islands for another day. Few people were already awake at this time of day, let alone out and about. However, one of the people that was already out could only be described as a woman on a mission.

Kairi had on her normal pink dress, and was walking with her schoolbag in hand. This time though, there was no schoolbooks in it, but rather a tin filled to the brim with cookies that she had stayed up baking last night.

She marched towards the hospital, knowing that it was a little early to be visiting, but she was determined to see Sora. She knew that his mother (his father most likely had to go back to work) had probably stayed the night there, so she could try and talk to her to let her in to see Sora. For a moment she wondered why she didn't drive Sora's car there, but it didn't matter.

Kairi walked over to the receptionist when she got to the hospital. The young woman looked up at her as she asked, "Can you tell me where Sora Hikari's room is?"

"I'm sorry, it's a little early for visitors," the lady said.

"Please?" Kairi asked, tears welding up in her eyes. "I—I'm his girlfriend (technically it was a lie, but Kairi didn't really care) and I'm so worried about him. I won't wake him up, I swear. Actually, I'll stay in a waiting room close to his room until he wakes up. Just please, tell me where he is."

The woman hesitated before looking through her files on the computer and saying, "Floor three, room 345-A."

Kairi smiled warmly and said, "Thank you miss. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," the receptionist replied as Kairi walked off. She took the elevator up to the third floor and started walking down the hall watching the door numbers carefully. Finally she came to the room that said 345-A, but nervousness overwhelmed her. She reached out hesitantly, but then let the door handle go.

She wasn't sure where this nervousness was coming from. She had proven over the last few weeks that she was determined and would do almost anything to get what she wanted. And the thing she wanted the most was beyond the door that suddenly seemed to frighten her.

Kairi jumped as the door opened and she found herself face to face with a familiar pair of cerulean blue eyes, or ones that were identical to the object of her affection's.

"Oh, Kairi," Sora's mother said as she stared in shock. "It's a little early, isn't it?"

"Is he okay?" Kairi asked in a tiny voice, ignoring the question.

Mrs. Hikari frowned for a moment before saying, "He'll be fine. Once he recovers from the attack, which the doctors promised would only be a few days, so he should be up and about for Christmas."

"Attack? What happened?" Kairi asked with alarm. Her mind automatically jumped to Heartless, but she knew that there wasn't any on the island.

Mrs. Hikari frowned and said, "It was all my fault. He was getting really bad headaches from stress and the hotter than normal heat, so I started giving him pain medication. They stopped working, so I gave him stronger ones. Those made him terribly sick. I have those to him when he got home yesterday, not knowing they were making him sick. That's why he got even worse."

Kairi's eyes were wide with horror as she listened to this.

"I was killing my own baby!" Ayame Hikari said sadly as tears welded up in her eyes. "The doctors said that people's bodies often reject certain types of medication, but strong reactions like Sora's are rare, so I couldn't have known. They also said that his headaches were probably due to stress as well as all the higher than normal temperatures we've been having. I don't really know how long his headaches have been going on for though."

Kairi thought over the past few weeks and realized that in her frantic journey to make everything absolutely perfect for the Christmas Formal, that she had overlooked the moments where Sora was holding his head in pain. Guilt flashed through her and she said, "I—he has been in pain for awhile. I just…I just didn't think about it because I was a terrible person and only thinking about making a good formal and to have everything perfect. Oh, I knew Sora was stressed about exams, but I still made him help, and then I made him think that everything had to be perfect. This is all my fault! He told me that the glue and the paint were making it worse, but I just ignored him."

She couldn't believe that she never thought of how much pressure Sora would be going through to do well on the in-class exams, since he needed to pass them in order to pass his classes. Then she threw the responsibility of him helping with the formal, and he had a job too! How else was he going to pay for gas and all the junk food he ate?

"Oh no honey, it's not," Mrs. Hikari said, startling Kairi out of her thoughts. "At least he doesn't think you're the cause of the headaches."

"He doesn't?" Kairi asked in a tiny voice once she remembered that she was blaming herself for Sora's current situation.

"Yes. He woke up. You want to know the first thing he asked?"

"Hmm?"

"He asked what time it was. And when we told him, he scowled and said that he missed the formal that he was actually looking forward to going to. He told us how, even though decorating and dealing with all those other people was very stressing, being with you wasn't."

A soft smile appeared on Kairi's face, but that still didn't stop the guilt from eating away at her. So part of his stress was from helping her.

"Then he asked if they shaved his hair, thinking that something was wrong with his head."

Kairi laughed at this before an involuntary look of horror passed over her face. "Did he have to get his hair shaved?"

Sora's mother laughed at her expression before it turned into her sad look again, and said, "No honey, he didn't. Although, when he passed out at home, he did smack his head pretty hard so they had to put stitches in. Now, why are you here this early in the morning?"

"I wanted to see if he was alright, and give him these. Here." Kairi reached into her back and pulled out the tin that was decorated with Santa Claus and all his reindeer. She opened it, revealing cookies in the shakes of trees, stars, gingerbread men, stockings and angels. "You and Mr. Hikari can have some. I made a lot of them."

Sora's mother smiled graciously and took only one for herself and one for her husband. "Thank you Kairi. I would save the rest for Sora though. He couldn't eat anything last night, so when he wakes up he'll be starved. You should go in and sit with him until he wakes up. I'm sure he'd appreciate you being there."

"Thank you," Kairi muttered before turning and going into the room. Ayame closed the door behind the young girl, startling Kairi. She took several deep breaths as she looked at Sora's sleeping form. There was a thick band of cloth going around his head, holding on the gauze and bandages over where the doctors stitched him up. Judging from the amount of bandages, Kairi knew that it was more than just a little cut.

Kairi slowly made her way over to Sora's bed and sat down in the chair beside it. She took his hand in hers before saying, "I'm so sorry Sora. This is all my fault. If I wasn't pressuring you to make sure everything was perfect, and if I had actually thought about you instead of myself, then you shouldn't have been so stressed. Then you wouldn't have had the bad headaches, and then you wouldn't have taken that medicine that made you so sick." She was stroking Sora's hand with her thumb and staring at her knees, not aware that he was half awake, staring at her through half closed eyes.

"You're insane, you know that Iri?"

Her head snapped up as she quickly stood up and said, "Sora. Are you okay? How are you feeling? Do you need something to drink? Do—"

"Iri," he muttered. "I'm fine, and this time I mean it. You, however, are crazy for thinking this was your fault. It's a good thing that this happened now, so I know how much stress can actually hurt me. At least I know never to take that type of pill or anything again. I have to get the name of what they were so I don't take them again. The only regret I have is that this happened before the dance."

Kairi face, which had been starting to calm, got a distressed look on it again.

Sora sighed and said, "Fine, here goes my pride. I was actually kind of excited for it."

"Really?" a surprised look now claimed her features.

Sora blushed a tiny bit before saying, "Well yeah. You were excited, so I was too. Plus I thought it'd be fun, to be with you for the entire night. And…ummm…"

'_Just tell her, your constant thinking is making ME feel tired,'_ Roxas snapped.

"Well, I kind of wanted to see you in your dress."

Kairi blushed and said, "Really?"

"Yeah," Sora replied. They continued staring at one another for a moment before a loud gurgling sound originated from Sora's stomach.

Laughter escaped Kairi's mouth as she said, "Poor baby is probably starving."

"Yes," Sora said with an exaggerated sigh. "I'd even eat those god-awful things Riku calls chocolate frogs now. I know it's Christmastime, but why does he bother making them?" She knew it was a rhetorical question. Neither of them would ever know why Riku tried to make anything.

"How about," Kairi said while leaning closer to him. "Some of my Christmas Sugar Cookies?"

Sora's eyes lit up as he said, "Don't tease me. Just the thought of those cookies makes me want to lock you up so that you would be at my beck and call to make them whenever I want."

Kairi blushed deeply at this, but she couldn't help but tease him. "Kind of like a slave? I hope that doesn't count for a slave in every way, because I'm not walking around in a skimpy maid costume."

Sora's eyes widened innocently and he flushed a bright red.

Kairi giggled before reaching over and pulling a tin towards them. She opened it so that he could see the cookies.

Suddenly Sora seemed wide away. Quicker than she could blink, her tin of cookies was snatched out of her hands and Sora was cradling it close to him with one arm as if it were a child, while the other held a cookie to his mouth.

"I'm sorry," she repeated after a moment of watching him snack on the sweets.

"There's nothing to be sorry about Iri. In fact, I am the one who should be sorry. You put so much effort into the dance, but didn't even go. I'm so, so, so, so, sooo sorry Kairi."

"Sora, shut up," Kairi said, causing him to stop rambling. She took the cookies away (with a moan of protest from Sora) and said, "As long as you're alright, then missing the dance is no big deal."

Sora stared at her for a moment before moving over in his bed. He gently grabbed her arm and pulled her down onto the bed beside him.

Kairi was a little startled at first, but smiled widely and curled up close to him. She stayed there, curled up with her head on his shoulder until he was asleep again. Then she stood up and grinned as he moaned in protest, the same way he had when she took the cookies away from him. Kairi stared at him affectionately before leaning in and kissing his forehead gently and whispering, "You get better, you hear me?"

Sora subconsciously seemed to hear her, as a smile appeared on his face as she left.

**VVVVVVVVV**

Sora ate the soup that Riku's mother had brought to him ravenously, thanking her over and over again for giving him something else aside from the hospital crap. She was a nurse there; she knew how horrible the food really was. He was excited, because he was allowed to go home that day. However, after the excitement passed, he seemed to go into deep thought.

Sora's mother was standing beside him, getting the last few things that she had brought to him, like get well cards and some clothes, packed up. She glanced at her son once she heard the slurping stop, and noticed that he had gone into deep thought once he was done the soup.

She tilted her head in curiosity, something aside from her eyes that he had inherited from her. She snapped her fingers in front of his face after a moment, startling him.

"What's wrong Sora?"

"I just…I'm trying to figure out how to make it up to Kairi for missing the formal," Sora explained with a frown. "She put a lot of hard work into it, and I know she spent a lot on her dress too."

Ayame's expression softened at this and she said, "Well, how about I help you try to think of something?"

"No thanks mom, I want to figure this out on my own. If I need help pulling it off though, you'll be the first one I ask."

Ayame smiled at this. She was proud of herself, for raising such a thoughtful boy. She knew that he would never take advantage of Kairi, that he would never hurt her or leave her, should something bad happen.

Yes, Ayame was extremely proud of her parenting skills at the moment. Yes, hers, not her husbands. If he had his way, Sora would be just like any other wild teenage boy, not the sweetheart he was. Then again, Raiden was as big of a softie as his son was, just in denial about it. Now if only Sora would stop being so brash and start boosting his grades in school.

If Riku had somehow heard Mrs. Hikari's thoughts, he would have died from laughter and started calling Sora Gary-Stu.

Sora continued thinking on the way home, and Roxas was helping him brainstorm. Sure, he didn't want his mother helping him, but Roxas was him, so it only half counted as help. They thought together silently, watching the Christmas decorations on the houses as they drove by.

'_Okay, I'm literally lost in all your thoughts in here buddy-boy,'_ Roxas said as the car pulled up to their house. _'So take a breather from thinking, and we'll continue when we get up to your room.'_

"Fine," Sora said allowed.

"What's fine?" his mother asked him.

"Just having an internal conversation," Sora explained. "And I decided that one idea I had was a bad idea."

"Idea?" his father, Raiden, asked skeptically. "What kind of idea? You're stuck in the house for the next week to make sure nothing else goes wrong with you."

"Oh, he's trying to think of a way to repay Kairi for making her miss the Christmas Formal," his mother gushed as they marched towards the house. "Isn't that sweet?"

Raiden raised an eyebrow before running a hand through his spiky, brown hair and saying, "Sure."

Ayame glared at him and said, "Don't you 'sure' me when you don't mean it. You should take a leaf out of your son's book for once."

"What?" he asked with confusion as his wife walked into the house and towards the kitchen. He glanced at his son, who was snickering with amusement. "Do you know what just happened?"

"I think she thinks you're an insensitive jerk. You could fix that though by going to get that big Christmas tree she wants. And the new lights and decorations, since she's bored of her old ones." When Sora got up the next morning, all this stuff would be in the house and his mother would be in a very happy mood for the rest of the week.

Raiden rolled his eyes and said, "Get in the house and go…break things, or something that's not mushy. I swear your brain must be filled with sap over Kairi. You even let her have your car until she brings it back! I thought your car was the most sacred thing to you?"

Sora rolled his eyes. Like his car, as much as he loved it, could outdo Kairi. "Whatever dad, at least I'm thinking about a girl. It could be worse! I could be thinking about Ri—"

Sora's father proceeded to cover his ears and sing loudly, causing Sora to hurry up to his room. His father's voice could scare even a great white shark away! Or make Sora want to take that medicine he wasn't allowed to in order to put himself out of his misery.

"Okay," Sora said. "As amusing as that intermission was. Back to work. Roxas, come out here for once." Sora said on one end of his bed, staring at the foot of it as Roxas appeared.

"Never," Roxas warned. "Joke about that. Riku. That just makes me want to cry."

Sora laughed and said, "Back to Kairi then."

"That's more like it," Roxas said happily. "Okay, start from the beginning. You've been through ten times the amount of stress while you were gone without noticing it. But the schoolwork and the dance really messed you up. That's just weird."

"I think that I didn't notice it because, one, I was always in pain anyways, two, we had potions to fix everything, and three, I didn't think about stress. All I can do with schoolwork is think about it. Then there's the fact that my mother gave me drugs that pretty much killed me."

"…Well that really doesn't have anything to do with the topic at hand," Roxas replied quickly. "So, Kairi."

"I messed up her entire night so I need to make it up to her. Taking her to the movies is just lame, and I'm terrible at cooking so I can't make her anything."

"We could take her and Naminé out to a restaurant."

"I think we should do this before Christmas, and you KNOW everything is bound to be booked for the next two weeks straight."

"That's true." Roxas sighed deeply. "You could serenade her at night on Christmas Eve."

"Her dad has a shotgun," Sora said dryly.

"Oh yeah, I remember that. He chased Riku with it when he thought Riku was perving on Kai, but he was waiting for you to get out of Kairi's room." It was a good memory to Roxas, watching Riku run away horrified from the older man in pajamas with a shotgun while Sora slipped out of Kairi's window unnoticed.

Sora laughed and said, "Plus there's the fact that we're trapped in the house for the next week."

"Forgot about that," the blond admitted. "So we're limited to your house and…hey…"

"What?" Sora asked, excitement flashing in his eyes.

"Aren't mom and dad leaving to go pick up grandma this weekend? They'll be gone Friday night and coming back late Saturday?"

"Well yeah but—" Sora stopped in mid sentence, a grin appearing on his face. "I think I get where this is going."

"So we're in agreement that we've just gone beyond any safe level of mushiness and into the Twilight Zone?"

"Damn right," Sora said as he got up. He opened his door and ended up walking into the person he was looking for.

"Oh, Sora, are you alright?" his mother asked, a worried look passing over her face.

"Yeah I'm fine," he answered. "And I figured out what I want to do for Kairi. It's even restricted to this house!"

"…If I didn't know you better I'd take that completely the wrong way."

"But you DO know me better mom. This is what I want to do…"

'_**Cause I've seen the miracle of snow on Christmas day  
The magic of loves first kiss, that takes your breath away  
And underneath the mistletoe, I know dreams come true…  
'Cause I've never seen anything, as beautiful as you**_

"Hey Kai," Naminé said as she snapped her transparent fingers in front of her other. "Earth to Kairi!" Kairi continued to ignore her, her eyes focused on the dress that was peaking out in her closet.

Naminé sighed and rolled his eyes. It was quite an amusing sight to see. Kairi was sitting in a pile of boxes and wrapping paper, with tape stuck to her legs and a sparkly bow tangled in her hair.

"Hey look," Naminé said as she glanced out the window. "There's Sora with some other chick."

"What?" Kairi broke out of her daze, a furious look on her face as she dashed over to the window. She looked outside, a fury glare already present in her eyes, but she saw nothing.

"Finally!" Naminé cried out. "You weren't paying attention at all. If the dress is going to distract you that much, you should take it back. You never wore it and you still have the tags and receipt."

"I know," she said with a deep sigh. "I just wish that I could have worn it. But you're right. It might not fit next year, and I'll never get another chance to wear it, so I might as well get the money back for it. Even if it is the most perfect dress I've ever seen."

So, heartbreakingly so, Kairi grabbed her dress and neatly folded it into the same bag she had gotten from the store. She made sure she had the tags and the receipt, and she made sure that she had her socks and her shoes, and that the tape was off of her leg. Then she walked out the door.

"Kai…" Naminé trailed off from behind her, but changed her mind. Her Other would figure out eventually that she still had a bow twisted in her hair. Naminé quickly caught up to Kairi and said, "I have another idea too! One that's not as depressing!"

"Like what?" Kairi asked.

"Well, you still have his car, so you should probably return it. Then we can see Roxas!" Naminé said happily.

Kairi rolled her eyes but grinned anyways. She hadn't seen Sora in a few days; so seeing him seemed like a good idea. "Okay, but after I take back the dress."

"But Kai," Naminé whined. "That makes no sense. Their house in on the way to the mall."

"I don't—"

"I'll tell Sora about that dream you had last night of him and you all alone in the Secret Place."

Kairi's face turned a bright shade of red before saying, "You wouldn't dare."

Naminé just stared at her.

"Fine, we'll go to Sora's first," Kairi said with a sigh as Naminé vanished again. She got into the driver's side of Sora's car and started heading towards his place. Kairi liked this car, even though she thought he was a tad eccentric about it. It was dark blue, which Kairi indefinitely approved of, and he always kept it clean. It wasn't the fanciest thing she had ever seen, it had a few dents it in front frustration when Sora would try to tinker with it (before apologizing to it profoundly like it was a person) but the inside was a nice shade of gray and the air conditioning worked extremely well. That was probably why she liked being in the car so much, because of the air conditioning. She wasn't even sure what type of car it was (Sora had given her a big spiel about it, but she effortlessly tuned it out) Although, sometimes she felt jealous of the thing she was currently in, because Sora had even given it a name! He called it "Kay-Ray", and Kairi was sure that he had watched too much Star Wars or something when he got it.

She would never know that he was trying to make it similar to her name without being obvious. Hey, Riku and everyone else might have noticed, but Kairi didn't, so that's what counted.

The first thing she noticed when she got to his house, after breaking out of her thoughts, was the lack of his parents' car. That didn't bother her, because they rarely ever seemed to be home during the day.

Kairi turned off the engine, hopped out of the car, and headed towards the house. She went to knock on the door, but before she could even lower her hand, the door was flung open, revealing her spiky-haired friend.

Sora looked down at Kairi and a huge smile appeared on his face. Kairi raised an eyebrow and said, "Someone's bored."

"You have no idea," Sora agreed. "I've been stuck in the house with no one but Roxas to talk to for…two and a half days! No offense Rox, but it gets a little dull when the person you're taking to knows what you're thinking."

'_Amen.'_

There was a pause before Kairi giggled and said, "Are you going to invite me in, or let me stay out here in the burning sun?"

Sora apologized quickly and moved out of the way. She laughed at this, sighing happily as she felt the cool air of his air-conditioned home.

"So, where are your parents?"

"They went to go get grandma for Christmas," Sora explained. "They won't be back until tomorrow night. What's in the bag?"

"Oh," Kairi said, turning her head slightly to look at it. She hadn't even realized that she carried it into the house. "It's my dress. I figured it might not fit me next year, and I didn't wear it, so I might as well take it back."

Sora frowned deeply at this and said, "I'm sorry Iri."

"Hey, it's not your fault. Just bad timing for stress to actually get through your thick skull." She giggled and touched his stitches gently. "And for your mom to accidentally give you medicine that nearly killed you."

"I do not have a thick skull," Sora muttered, his eyes closing for a moment at her touch. "But I still feel bad. That, and I never got to see what it looked like." He pouted and she laughed.

"Oh well, maybe next year," Kairi said, hinting at the fact that she would still like to go with him to next year's Christmas Formal. Even though it was a year away.

"But that won't be this one. Hey, I know!" he grinned widely. "Why don't you try it on, so that I can see it?"

Kairi blushed and said, "I don't know Sora."

"Come on, please?" Sora asked, with big puppy-dog eyes.

Kairi stared at him for a moment before saying, "Fine! You win!" She turned and walked to the bathroom that was on the main floor.

Sora tilted his head with confusion when he saw the sparkling bow that was tangled in her hair, and was about to comment on it when Naminé appeared and shook her head. They waited until they heard the click of the bathroom door before a grin appeared on Sora's face. "And the prize goes to our leading lady, Miss Naminé."

She smirked and said, "I think that not only is this sweet, but very devious of you Sora. You too Roxas."

Roxas appeared and said, "I just wish we could have surprised you too."

"That's alright," she replied before turning back to Sora. "Hurry. She can get in and out (she giggled as Sora blushed at this) of that dress pretty fast."

Sora nodded and quickly took off towards the basement, Roxas and Naminé both vanishing as he did.

Kairi walked out of the bathroom a few minutes later wearing her dress. She tripped over it a bit and had to yank the front up, since it was long and strapless.

She came out expecting Sora to be right there, so naturally, she was surprised when he wasn't. She was relived though, because it would have been humiliating if he were there when she accidentally yanked the front down some. Kairi looked around curiously before calling out, "Sora?"

"I'm in the basement."

"Don't you want to see my dress?"

"Come down here."

Kairi rolled her eyes as she tossed her pink dress with the white halter-top over on the couch before walking towards the stairs. She made sure to lift up the hem of her dress (it was too long because she was supposed to wear it with her high heels), so she wouldn't trip over it again and carefully started walking down the stairs. Unfortunately, she wasn't holding it high enough, and ended up tripping (again) when she neared the bottom. Her only thought was to keep the dress up, so she completely missed the railing. Fortunately, Sora was there to catch her.

"Graceful Iri," he said while laughing. "I give it a 9.5."

"Shut u—up?" a confused look appeared on her face as she looked around the room. It was decorated with snowflakes, fake snow, glittering stars and shining fabrics of silver, ice blue and lavender.

Her eyes were wide and, in an airy tone of voice, she asked, "What? Why—"

"My mom and I, well mostly just my mom since she doesn't trust me with scissors, spent all day decorating. I tried to describe what you did for the formal, so it would look something like it, and I think mom did a pretty decent job. I did help though."

Kairi turned around to face him. For the first time she noticed that he was wearing the dark button up shirt and the pants that she had chosen for him, and the cerulean tie hung messily around his neck.

"What?" she asked again, still feeling confused.

"I know you say that you don't care, but I still felt bad about making you miss what you worked so hard for. So, I wanted to make it up to you some how. Roxas and I came up with the idea to make our own little dance down here, and we got Naminé to bring you over here with your dress."

Kairi's eyes watered a bit as she laughed and threw her arms around his neck. "You are such a sweetheart."

"Dad says I'm too much of a sap for one girl."

Kairi inhaled quickly when he mentioned only 'one girl'. But it was true, and she knew it. She knew he liked her, and she knew that he wouldn't do this for anyone else.

"I think that more guys should be sappy then," Kairi muttered as she hugged him tightly again.

"So Iri, would you like to dance?" Sora asked with a grin. Kairi laughed and nodded her head.

"To what?" she asked as he fiddled with the iPod that was connected to the large speakers around the room. "The chicken dance?"

"Roxas asked Naminé what the slow songs were that you had planned, so I went and downloaded them," Sora said as he hit the center button of his blue device. The music started playing as he came close to her again and said, "Just so you know, I can't dance."

Kairi laughed and took one of his hands and put it on her side while she placed her arm on his shoulder and took his other hand in hers. "Well, this is one way to slow dance. Just follow my lead."

Sora was staring down at their feet as they started moving, trying desperately not to step on her tiny, bare feet, even though he couldn't see them passed her dress.

Kairi pouted at this and said, "Hey, you have to look at me." Sora slowly glanced up at her and his eyes locked at her as they swayed around the room.

It felt like hours passed as Kairi taught Sora different ways to slow dance with every third or fourth song that played. In the back of Sora's mind, he was partially keeping all this locked away for future use, and in the other part he was listening to both Kairi, and the music. Some of the songs were faster than others, but none were anything he'd listen to normally. He wasn't THAT big of a sap. Well, maybe he was, but that wasn't the point. It was Kairi's fault, because she always turned him into a gooey puddle of romantic Sora sap by just standing beside him.

Kairi leaned her head against his chest with her eyes closed and a smile on her face. In her mind, this was so much better than any stupid, busy formal. This was just her and Sora, something she had always wanted. He stopped talking to her as the song switched again, but she felt his grip get a little tighter.

"I like this song," Kairi said suddenly, but not moving aside from their slow swaying. "It was my favorite one, and the first one I picked. I actually heard it while I was shopping for my dress."

"Really?" Sora asked with amusement. He already knew this of course, via Naminé.

"Yeah," Kairi replied so that he could barely hear.

Sora rested his head on top of hers, and sang along with the bits and pieces of the song he remembered from hearing it before, humming off-tune with everything he didn't know. Kairi laughed at this and swatted at his arm. "You're ruining the song."

He ignored her thought, humming before muttering along with the song, "And I now how lucky I am to have you. Something something, Christmas day."

"Sora!" she said with laughter.

"Please forgive me if I can't let go, 'cause I never dreamed I'd find, a Cinderella of my own. Hey…that's weird. Anyways."

Kairi giggled a bit and said, "I thought so too."

"Iri?" he muttered after a moment.

"Hmm?"

"You're my precious gift, my Christmas wish…and I've never seen anything, as beautiful as you." They were the only words he sang properly, without humming off tune or making some kind of joke. He stopped moving and she glanced up at him with confusion.

"What?"

"I mean it," he muttered. "The person who wrote this song got it dead on."

"I—" Kairi didn't have the chance to say anything else, as Sora leaned down and kissed her. It was only a small kiss that lasted for a mere second, but to Kairi it was more than that.

She stared at him with wide eyes before grinning at him. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him back deeply.

So what if she had missed the dance that she planned for weeks because of a rather random medical situation? So what if she didn't have her hair fixed or her make-up on? So what if they weren't with a big group of their friends? Being in Sora's decorated basement, with only him, was good enough for her. She didn't care that she was dancing in her bare feet with her dress that was slightly too long, and with a ribbon entangled in her hair. She didn't care that Sora was wearing mismatched socks with holes in them, or that he had ugly looking stitches on the side of his head, or that his suit wasn't ironed and the tie wasn't done up just right.

They broke away from each other again and Sora pulled her close, starting to sway to the music again. This time it was sloppy, because he wasn't trying to impress anyone anymore.

Yes, she was going to have to get him an amazing Christmas present this year, since he did all of this for her.

**VVVVVVVVV**

It was their tradition to all meet up on Christmas Day, after diving through their presents at home, to exchange gifts with one another. Selphie, Wakka, Tidus, Sora, Riku and Kairi had been doing this ever since they were little. There was one problem with their gift exchange this year though.

Sora and Kairi had yet to show up.

Riku looked at his new cell phone impatiently as Selphie asked, "Where are they?"

"How should I know?"

"You're their best friend. Shouldn't you have some kind of…Sora-Kairi radar? I usually know where Tidus and Wakka are."

"That's because you stalk them," Riku replied dryly.

"No I—you—argh!" Selphie was about to jump at Riku, but stopped when she saw Sora and Kairi quickly jogging over to them, Sora carrying two bags in his hands.

"Sorry," Kairi said as they sat on the warm sands of the beach. "We get a little held up."

No one was surprised that Sora and Kairi came together, the always did. Their mothers (well, Kairi's adopted mother, but she considered the woman her real mother) were childhood friends, so they always spent Christmas together. First they opened their presents at their own homes, then the met up and one of their houses, and then Sora and Kairi took off. Neither Sora, nor Kairi, was going to admit that the reason they were late was because Sora's grandmother had strewn mistletoe everywhere and was waiting with a camera. Kairi's father had not been impressed while Sora's father could have cared less. Both of their mothers found it adorable though.

Sora could just imagine the look on Riku's face if he told them, 'Well geez Riku, we were caught under mistletoe about 20 times before we could finally live the house!'

'_You say it, I'll sing "Jingle Bells" in your head, forever,'_ Roxas warned. He then separated from Sora as Naminé separated from Kairi, and the two of them walked off to be alone together for a while.

"Well it's about time!" Selphie growled as she started throwing presents at everyone. It was always easy to know which ones came from Selphie. They were always wrapped up in banana yellow wrapping paper.

Laughs were had with some of the gifts, embarrassment form others (Riku quickly hid the gift that was labeled 'From Roxas'. The note clearly said that it was so he WOULDN'T get AIDS.), thank yous with some and hugs with others.

Wakka got three new blitzballs, as well as a book about blitzball and a DVD with the best moments of blitzball. He nearly cried from happiness.

"You're going to regret giving her that Riku," Sora said about the gift certificate he gave to Selphie. He could clearly hear Roxas and Naminé talking, as they sat down a few feet away, trying to figure out WHY someone would give a hyperactive girl a certificate for a candy store!

"How did you know I wanted this belt?" Selphie asked Sora with a suspicious tone as she opened the gift.

Sora pointed at Kairi, who laughed and waved.

Since Wakka was too busy admiring his amazing haul of blitzball items, Tidus challenged Riku to a sparring match with the new staff he had gotten. Riku shrugged, opting to use one of the wooden swords instead of his Keyblade. Selphie was already reading her book about some kind of strange romance littered with Mary Sues and predictable plotlines.

Kairi tried to get up from the sand, but Sora quickly grabbed her sides and yanked her back onto his lap. She laughed and said, "They'll see."

"I don't care," Sora muttered. "I got you a present."

"I thought I told you not to get one after what you did for me last week," Kairi muttered into his neck as she gave him a quick kiss there.

"Maybe, but dad told me that no matter WHAT a girl says, you still get her a gift," Sora explained. He moved one of his arms to grab the gift and the other stayed wrapped around her waist.

"Your dad's a smart man," Kairi said as she took the gift, staring at it with awe, even though she hadn't opened it yet.

"Yeah, he likes to blame my mom for my sappy side, while making it look like he's the world's biggest manly-man, but mom and I both know he's really where I got my softy side from."

Kairi laughed as she opened it. Her breath escaped her when she saw a photo album.

"Roxas and I made it at home," Sora explained. "We bought a plain white album and put all the decorations on it. Of course, my mom had to stop me from making to too tacky more than once." It was decorated with stickers, glitter, and markers to make a paopu fruit.

Kairi slowly opened the cover, and on the inside she saw not a picture on the first page, but a worn sheet of paper that was laminated and pasted on the cover. "Thinking of you wherever you are…Sora, this is the poem I sent you."

"I know," he said. "Keep looking."

There were many pictures in the album. Some from when they were little, some more recent. There were some from Sora's adventures that Kairi really liked (like lion-cub Sora), and there was actually one from today with them under the mistletoe.

"How did you get that one?"

"I got mom to run up to the computer and print it off while grandma had us distracted with more mistletoe. See, I forgot to wrap the present, so mom did that too."

"How are you going to survive without her, mama's boy?"

Sora just grinned and made her flip another page. Roxas brought Naminé over so that she could see this picture too. Actually, there were two pictures on the page.

Sora had set up a camera on a tripod when they were dancing. Kairi felt her eyes water a bit when she saw the picture of her and Sora dancing closely together. She giggled at it, because they both looked ridiculous, but it was still an amazing picture. The one down below it shocked Kairi. In the exact same position, messed up socks and ribbon stuck in hair, were Roxas and Naminé.

"The people who developed them thought there was a problem with that picture, but I said it was fine," Sora explained.

Naminé laughed happily as she hugged Roxas tightly.

"Here," Kairi said to Sora as they ignored their Nobodies. She gently set the photo album down, as if it were made of a sacred piece of glass, and took out her present for him. "I feel so stupid, because it's not really anything compared to what you got me."

Sora ignored her and opened the present. His eyes widened and he said, "Holy hell Kairi, how much did this cost you?" There was a new shirt folded nicely. It was all black, except for at collar, the bottom of the shirt and the sleeves. They were checkered black and white. Along with that were a pair of gloves that matched, and a thick silver chain.

"Iri," Sora said. "How can you think that this doesn't add up? I love it, and Roxas will too." The first thing he did was reach into his pocket and take out the crown pendant that was in there. His chain had finally had enough with the wear and tear he put it through, and ended up snapping the month before. "Do you know why this is so important to me?"

"Why?" Kairi asked as she took it from his hands and put the pendant over the chain.

"Because it was the last thing my grandfather gave me before he died," Sora explained. "It belonged to him. See on the back? It says Hikari, our family name."

Kairi turned it over and sure enough, engraved into the metal was Sora's last name. She smiled a bit and clasped it around his neck. "There, you looked a little strange without it."

Sora laughed. Before she could do as much as breathe again, Sora had leaned in close and captured her lips with his. Kairi giggled into the kiss and was about to lean into him more when he broke away from her.

"Iri?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you." He leaned in to kiss her again, but she backed up a tiny bit before saying. "I love you too. Always have, always will." Sora grinned as she closed the hair's length of distance between them.

Tidus flopped to the ground, beaten thoroughly by Riku.

"That wasn't much of a challenge," Riku taunted. "Right Sor…" He had turned to look at his friends and was staring rather blankly at them. Tidus and Wakka turned to see what he was look at, but it was Selphie who reacted first. She let out a shrill giggle, causing Kairi to turn around and stare at her oddly.

"You two are SO adorable!" Selphie called out.

Sora blushed deeply and Kairi giggled as she completely ignored her friend's stares at kissed him again.

Riku blinked once, before shaking his head and grinning, "Someone definitely had a Merry Christmas."

If Sora weren't holding her back, Kairi would have lunged at Riku. But it was Christmas, so Sora decided to be nice to his friend.

Sora forced her to sit on his lap again and whispered into her ear, "I've never seen anything as beautiful as you."

Kairi giggled and said, "You are such a bag of mush, fluff and sap, Sora. That's why I love you though." Then they leaned into each other again, not caring if all of their friends were around to see them kiss.

_**I've seen the miracle of snow on Christmas day  
The magic of loves first kiss, that takes your breath away  
And underneath the mistletoe, I know dreams come true…  
You're my precious gift, my Christmas wish…  
And I've never seen anything, as beautiful as you**_

From the moment I saw you…  
From the moment I looked into your eyes

**VVVVVVVVV**

**The End**

I have perfected the run-on sentence! My life goal is complete. My fingers are officially sore. Why? Because I wrote both of these chapters in ONE go. Finger cramps much? Tomorrow's Christmas Eve!!!!!!!! Haha!

Thanks to everyone for their great reviews for the first part!

Merry Christmas to everyone!!!!!!!

_**Krystal Lily Potter**_


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